Eight Mile Creek FarmWeek of July 28, 2019
Produce from the Farm This Week
String Beans, Red Leaf Lettuce, Cucumbers, Dill, Escarole, Kohlrabi, Summer Squash, Zucchini
Clare, weeding the scallions
Summer…everything is growing, including the weeds!
Much time is spent in the vegetable fields managing the weed pressure. On an organic farm, no sprays are used to kill weeds, so control is very time consuming. Cover crops are planted in the fall, not only to help feed and stabilize the soil, but also to help suppress weed seed germination. We plant buckwheat as a smother crop in the spring as well. Weeds still do grow, however, and proliferate quickly, especially after rain and hot sun patterns. Superficial tillage is used in between the rows (superficial so as not to damage the integrity of the soil). Hand weeding must be done in between each vegetable and herb plant. Especially tedious is the weeding around delicate plants such as scallions, which come up looking much like fine blades of grass; onions, dill, carrots, etc. These particular plants are not only fine, but germinate slowly. Weeds, which germinate quickly, pose an especially ominous threat to these slow germinating, fine plants.
Joan Rice’s Cucumber Salad
Slice cucumbers very thin and place in a bowl. Add finely chopped dill to taste; sea salt and pepper. Slice a small amount of onions thin and add them. Toss with plain yogurt or sour cream. Serve immediately or chill and serve the next day for more intense flavor!
Jenny and Chey helping to move the cows to a new field. Wildflowers abound everywhere on EMCF. Interesting fact: the cows and horses eat the grasses, but most of the wildflowers are left behind by them. These flowers help support and feed pollinators, such as honeybees, who in turn, help the vegetable plants by pollinating them so they can set fruit. Another example of how organic, regenerative farming works as a sustainable system.
Kohlrabi is in the same family as cabbage, broccoli, kale, and collards. It is a very good source of folate, magnesium, thiamin, phosphorous, vitamins C and B6, potassium and fiber. The leaves can be cooked with other cooking greens and the bulb should be peeled and can be eaten raw. Slice and add to your salad or dip in humus, or try this delicious recipe:
Kohlrabi Apple Salad
kohlrabi, leaves and stems removed for different use
1 large granny smith apple, cored and chopped
fresh dill to taste, chopped
freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
lemon zest from 1 lemon
olive oil
plain yogurt
1/4 cup hazelnuts (optional)
Peel kohlrabi with a potato peeler and chop. Add chopped kohlrabi and apple to a mixing bowl. Add yogurt, dill, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with lemon zest.
Zucchini Bread
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 350. Butter an 8 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to mix together the grated zucchini, sugar, olive oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest and spices in a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake 40-55 minutes, until knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
from cooking.nytimes.com
Next week: cherry tomatoes, beets, chard
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
Masanobu Fukuoka
I love your blog.
That’s it. That’s all I want to say.
Not to mention the interesting fact about horses and cows eating the grasses and leaving the flowers for the pollinators! Wow.
Or the kohlrabi /apple recipe!
Or Joan Rice’s cucumber/onion salad recipe!
And most wonderfully, the “Ultimate Goal of Farming”.
Just beautiful. Thank you!